Teens put science and math to work to become hydroponic farmers and successful green entrepreneurs

These city kids from Boston may not look like conventional farmers, but they're spending part of their summer getting their hands dirty--or more like wet! They're learning how to build solar-powered hydroponic systems that grow organic vegetables without soil.

With support from the National Science Foundation (NSF), Boston College educator Mike Barnett and his team developed the Urban Hydrofarmers Project to engage students in math and science through hydroponic farming and green energy technology. And, because the teens sell what they grow at farmers' markets, the students get to experience green entrepreneurship.

Barnett and his team have also partnered with the STEM Garden Institute to bring hydroponic farming into classrooms throughout the U.S.

The research in this episode was supported by NSF award #1312072, A Strategies Project - Seeding the Future: Creating a Green Collar Workforce Through Learning about Indoor Urban Farming Technologies and Alternative Energy Sources.

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When Boston College professor Mike Barnett first got students involved in hydroponics, he couldn't get them to go home. "We charged them with the task of building a hydroponic system to grow 40 plants that would fit in a closet, and they wouldn't leave the lab, Barnett said. "At that point, we knew we were on to something." Hydroponics is the process of growing food with nutrient-rich water instead of soil, and it is the basis for a project that high school students have been working on at Boston College since 2012. The Urban Hyrofarmers Project is part of Boston College's College Bound program that prepares high school students for college by teaching them valuable skills in business and science. Find out more in this discovery.

Credit: Boston College

The tools, computers and gadgets in Nedlam's Workshop might imply that the main purpose of the Makerspace at Malden High School--an urban high school in the center of Malden, Massachusetts--is to teach students technical skills, but that's just one benefit it provides. “At the heart of it, it's not so much about any specific technology as how we can develop kids' identity as people who can do this kind of stuff," Ben Shapiro, one of the researchers, said. "And how we can change the perception of teachers and administrators in the process." In addition to providing a great space for students to make things, the project is studying how teachers can learn to adapt their lessons to open-ended, self-directed and fabrication-rich Makerspaces in ways that are responsive to the needs and interests of the students, their families and the surrounding community. Find out more in this discovery.

Credit: Phil Gay, Ben Shapiro, and Brian Gravel, Tufts University

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The Division of Research on Learning in Formal and Informal Settings in NSF's Directorate for Education and Human Resources invests in projects to improve the effectiveness of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) learning for people of all ages. Its mission includes promoting innovative research, development, and evaluation of learning and teaching across all STEM disciplines by advancing cutting-edge knowledge and practices in both formal and informal learning settings.

Any opinions, findings, conclusions or recommendations presented in this material are only those of the presenter grantee/researcher, author, or agency employee; and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.